Surah Ghafir, Ayah 63

Signs of the Power and Oneness of Allah

Allah reminds us of His grace towards His creation in that He has given them the night in which they rest and relax from their activities so that they can go back to them for their livelihood during the day. He has given them the day with its light, so that they can undertake their journeys and engage in their business.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَشْكُرُونَ

(Truly, Allah is full of bounty to mankind; yet, most of mankind give no thanks.) means, they do not express gratitude for the favors which Allah bestows upon them. Then Allah says:

ذَلِكُـمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّـكُمْ خَـلِقُ كُـلِّ شَىْءٍ لاَّ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ

Commentary

In the verses cited above, after having presented a few manifestations of Allah's blessings and His perfect power, an invitation to belief in the Oneness of Allah has been extended.

In the first verse (61), it was said: جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَالنَّهَارَ‌ مُبْصِرً‌ا (Allah is the One who made for you the night, so that you may have rest in it, and the day to let you see.). Just imagine how great a blessing it is that all human beings, even animals, have been naturally tuned to a set time for sleep, and that this time has been, in a manner of saying, virtually switched off in perfect synchronization with the need to sleep. In fact, it was made the part of everyone's psyche that this is the time, the time of night, that would bring a sound sleep. Otherwise, had sleep been in one's own control and had everyone been making one's own program to sleep at different hours, as he or she does to set a timetable for business or personal preferences, it would have left all sleepers deprived of the bliss of sleep, nor would it have been convenient for those awake to set their own hours of work right. The reason is that human needs are inter-related. Had sleeping hours been different, jobs of the awake connected with the sleeping would have gone topsy-turvy, and the jobs of the sleeping connected with the awake would have fared no better. Also, if only human beings had a set time for sleep - with wild beasts and animals sleeping at some other time - even then, the system of human engagement with work would have gone haywire.

The alternation of night and day and the existence of other life-sustaining processes on earth is too perfect and too great to have been brought into existence by any human being, or even by all God’s creatures put together. This is a clear argument which urges that the Creator is the only one who is worthy of being worshipped. Man should bow down only before Him and entertain hopes solely of Him. But, all too frequently, human beings are unable to establish any real relationship of worship and prayer with the Creator of the Universe because of being involved with someone or something other than God. Some are engaged in the worship of living or dead personalities, while others are totally occupied with themselves. Time and again, God reveals arguments which contradict such wrongful practices, but man ignores them, hiding behind false justification. All such behaviour amounts to a lack of appreciation for the Creator of the Universe, and those who degrade Him will find no place for themselves except in hell.